黑暗中想象的光芒——浅谈明清小说中的官场文化现象及清官理想

The Imaginative Radiance in the Darkness——A brief talk on the cultural phenomenon in official circles and the ideal of honest officials in the novels of the Ming and Qing Dynasties

中国明清时期的小说深深地烙上了封建官场文化的烙印,其中浓厚的封建官场文化现象是封建社会的典型缩影。清官是士大夫们未做官时“修身、齐家、治国、平天下”的理想,亦是封建专制统治下民众的企盼。然而,强大的现实利益和官场中的倾轧、斗争,往往使初始的理想最终成为一个笑话,于是,清官便成了专制统治下的人们在黑暗中想象的光芒。

Chinese novels of the Ming and Qing Dynasties were stamped deeply with the brands of the feudal culture in official circles. Among them, the strong cultural phenomenon of the feudal official circles was the typical epitome of the feudal society. An honest official was the scholar-officials＇ ideal of ＂cultivating yourself, putting your family in order, running the local government well, and bringing peace to the entire country＂ when they did not yet hold an official position, and it also was people＇s expectation under the feudal autocratic rule. However, the strong real interests and the factional strife or struggle in official circles often turned the initial ideal into a joke at long last. Consequently, the honest official just became people＇s imaginative radiance in the darkness under the autocratic rule.